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About War

"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Einstein

Margaretta is due to attend Ennis District Court on July 10th 2013 at 10.30am, to face the totally absurd charge that she

“DID INTERFERE WITH THE PROPER USE OF THAT AIRPORT BY GOING ON THE RUNWAY WITHOUT PERMISSION.”

In fact, Margaretta and Niall went on the runway to prevent the IMPROPER use of that civilian airport. And on July 10th Margaretta will represent her views on this matter – without the need of a lawyer – by showing that Shannon’s civilian airport has been IMPROPERLY transformed into a US military base in contravention of Bunreacht na hÉireann and numerous international human rights conventions, including the Convention against Torture. To back up her argument she will arrive at the court with two wheelbarrow loads of hard evidence and a selection of dictionaries to help determine the meaning of the “PROPER”.

However, Margaretta will not be presenting a “defence”, rather she intends to use the court to hold a “conversation” in a public place as proposed by President Michael D. Higgins.

We would urge peace supporters from all over the country to come and show solidarity with Margaretta and opposition to the on-going militarisation of Shannon airport at Ennis Court on July 10th at 10.30am.

As part of their ongoing response to the continuing use of Shannon Airport by the US military, Shannonwatch are holding a vigil outside the airport from 2pm to 3pm on Sunday June 9th. The vigil will be attended by independent TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace who will call for government action in line with its stated commitment to international law and Irish neutrality.

“The programme agreed by the present government says that they will enforce a prohibition on the use of Irish airspace, airports and related facilities for purposes not in line with the dictates of international law.” said Clare Daly TD this week. “Yet the routine movement of military planes through Shannon without any obvious oversight or inspection shows that they have little intention of doing so. We would have expected more from Labour, many of whose ministers were quite vocally opposed to the military and CIA use of Shannon in the past. But they and the rest of the government are continuing to bend the knee to the US, despite damning reports about Shannon’s involvement in renditions, the continuance of Guantanamo as a detention centre, and Obama’s drone policy.”

Galway peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy is to face charges before Ennis District Court on July 10th. She has received a summons in relation to an anti-war protest carried out on the runway at Shannon Airport last October to mark both the 11th anniversary of the Afghanistan war and an international campaign to highlight the deadly use of killer drones.

Ms D’Arcy faces the charge that she “did interfere with the proper use of Shannon airport by going on the runway without permission..”. In response Margaretta D’Arcy said: “I will be arguing in court that I was interfering with the improper use of the airport. Shannon airport is being used as a US military hub. Millions of armed troops have travelled through that airport en route to wage war and commit war crimes. CIA torturers and kidnappers have used Shannon as a stage in their “extraordinary rendition” flights. Millions of tons of arms, including killer drones, continue to be transported via Shannon to kill and maim innocent people in foreign lands. What is happening at Shannon airport is criminal – our action last October was just. It is not us that should be in the dock, but the Irish state for being an accessory to mass murder.”

The protest last October was organised by the Galway Alliance Against War. Participating with Ms D’Arcy in the protest was another peace activist Niall Farrell. He, however, has not yet received a court summons.

Two peace activists, Margaretta D’Arcy (78) and Niall Farrell (60), have received a letter each from the Gardai at Shannon stating the DPP is to press charges against them – “A summons will be issued at a future date.” Both D’Arcy and Farrell are members of the Galway Alliance Against War. On the 7thOctober last they went airside at Shannon airport and held a protest on the runway to mark the 11th anniversary of the start of the US and British invasion of Afghanistan. Since 2001 Shannon airport has proved to be an important hub in the US military’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On Feb. 3rd 2003, the Pitstop Plougshares were charged with $2.5 million "criminal damage" followng their nonvolent dsablng of a U.S. Navy warplane. Initially remanded in Limerick Prison they were brought to trial three Itmes over the following three years at Dublin's historic Four Courts. In 2006 following two mistrials, the Ploughshares - Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran and Caron O'Reilly - were unanimously acquitted of all charges by a Dublin jury. Accordng to WikiLeaks released Dubln U.S. embassy cables, the action and acquittal sent shock waves through the U.S. and Irish government war conspirators.

Deirdre and Ciaron were joined on Sunday by sizeable contingent of Garda and anti-war activists from Dublin, Galway and Limerick. Many of those gathered mantain a monthly anti-war persence at the airport and ongoing opposition to the continued use of the civilian airport by the U.S. military and C.I.A.

The gathering began by reading the February 2003 action statement of Derdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran and Ciaron O'Reilly. This was followed by remembering the dead of Iraq, those soldiers who passed through Shannon to their deaths and anti-war activsts who had resisted the militarisation of the airport who have sadly passed away over the past ten years. Imprisoned U.S. military whistleblower Bradley Mannng http://www.bradleymanning.org/ ,who passed through Shannon Airport to deployment in Iraq, was also remembered. Reflections were then shared by all gathered before mustard seeds were scattered as a symbol of hope for future nonviolent resistance at the airport.